Genesis 21:17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, What ails you, Hagar? fear not… A minister once said to a boy, "Can you pray? How did you pray?" He said, "Sir, I begged." He could not have used a better word; praying is begging of God. Prayer is very much like a bow. The arrow is a promise; the string is faith. You use your faith, and with it send a promise up to the skies. There are a great many things to think of in prayer. Let me tell you of one or two. 1. You should always address God by one of His names or titles, in a very reverent way. You have to thank God for His mercies; you have to confess to God your sins; you have to trust God to bless you; you have to ask for other people; then, to end all, "For Jesus Christ's sake." Tell God anything you like, only take care you ask it all in the name of Jesus, because we have no promise to prayer that God will hear us unless we add the name of Jesus to it. 2. Every boy and girl ought to have a form of prayer, though they need not always use it. A psalm is sometimes very good. But the more you practise, the more you will have to say out of your heart. 3. Wandering thoughts often trouble us in prayer. They are like the birds which flew down on Abraham's altar and spoiled the sacrifice. We must drive away these little birds; we must ask God to keep off the wandering thoughts. 4. When you are praying always remember that there is One who is offering up that prayer for you to God. That prayer does not go to God just as you send it up; but before it gets to the throne of God it gets much sweeter. Jesus puts His sweet incense into our prayer. So God will be pleased with us for His sake. 5. Pray always. You cannot always kneel down and pray, but little prayers in your hearts can always be going up. These little darts or ejaculations can be sent up anywhere, at any time. (J. Vaughan, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. |
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